The Writer's Assistant (ManxMan)

Chapter 13: Love Me Not

A/N: November 7th, 2022

Hey everyone, hope You're doing well! I'm finally back with an update 🙈 Make sure to leave a vote to support the story

21 more subs on my YouTube channel @letsgohomehidee for a new chapter? 🚩🌟 yes I'm trying to hit 800 before the end of 2022! My channel is @letsgohomehidee

Brainstorming for video ideas. Do you guys have any ideas? I'd love to do a podcast but I already talk to myself enough 💀

P.s: what is your go-to drink? I've lately been addicted to bubble tea 🧋

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Shit, when did I write that?!

"Are these questions for the interview or are they for you?" He asked with a sly smile, his question taking me by surprise.

"They're for the interview!" I blurted hastily.

"I was just asking," he chuckled lightly, and I felt my ears grow red.

"It was a typo," I mumbled feebly. "I meant to ask if you like gray."

Why was he still smiling?

"I like pink," he replied calmly in that soothing voice of his.

"Right, of course," I grumbled, pretending to write it down when all I did was scribble in panic. I needed to quickly change the subject, and fast. "One of your top-selling books is 'Love Me Not.' Could you tell me more about it? What inspired the story?"

Oliver ran a hand over his jaw and thought over the question, his face suddenly turning serious.

"It's about two childhood best friends who fall in love at the wrong time. I wanted to write about love, not only the beauty of it but also the ugly side of it. The frustration of being unable to control your thoughts, emotions, and desires... When you spend so much time witnessing the miserable drops of another's life and their highest peaks, you can't help but get attached to that person." He paused, staring at something afar before continuing, "But sometimes, no matter how right you feel about someone or how much you love them, it's just not meant to be. And that's the sad thing about love. No logical or rational explanation can help anyone understand certain outcomes. You can love someone and still choose to not be with them."

"But then, did the characters really love each other romantically?" I asked, intrigued by the depth of his answer.

"Love isn't a box you easily define. It's a spectrum that gets blurred between the lines, much like sexuality. It's a mixture of friendship, romance, trust, and every other whirling feeling that strengthens or ruins a bond. Sure, you have chemical reactions. Dopamine, hormones, oxytocin, scientific terms that explain that giddy feeling you get whenever you see your crush."

"So is love to you just a chemical reaction?"

He thought about it before concluding, "It's a question of perspective. Scientifically, being in love is a cocktail of chemical reactions. But staying in love? That requires effort. It's no longer about how physically attractive a person is or how excited you get whenever you see them. It's about how much you tolerate their morning breath or their smelly farts. It's about accepting their flaws and insecurities and still choosing to stay. It's about whether you can overcome social pressure that might challenge your relationship, but most of all, it's about how much you're willing to sacrifice for them."

In 'Love Me Not,' the two best friends didn't end up together. They remained best friends despite romantically falling in love but never went further. It had to be the most realistic but frustrating outcome, and it made me cry and think about it for days. You know when you read a book and it lingers in your kind for weeks even after closing its last page? I was so sad about the ending that I went online to see what other readers were saying, and it seemed like I wasn't the only one that didn't end up together.

"But why didn't they get together despite their feelings?" I asked. It was a question I'd been dying to ask him; a question that many of us had.

"Life happened," he smiled at me. "It was just a question of time and fate."

I pursed my lips. "But you said love was also about making sacrifices. Did the two characters not love each other enough to make sacrifices?"

He shook his head.

"That's the ugly side of love. Love isn't always compatible with happiness. If you love someone enough, you sacrifice your own happiness for theirs."

I swallowed hard. Everything slowly started to make sense. It was the same thing that happened between Aaron and me. I loved him too much, and I wanted to see him rise like the star he was, even if it meant giving up our relationship.

Oliver's book 'Love Me Not' finally made sense to me, and I realized how raw and brilliant it was. The characters loved each other too much. They were both willing to make sacrifices for the other's happiness.

"Love depends on your chosen lens to look at the world. If the only lens we look at the world through is reduced to unanimated building blocks, how boring and mediocre would that be. I chose to see the world through a lens of ideas. Concepts. An infinity of transcendent possibilities." Oliver smiled at me. "That's what inspired me to write their story."

Why didn't he give me any shallow or simple answers? Why couldn't he say something absurd or strange like he usually did? I made the fatal mistake of finding out that Oliver had more depth than he showed, which only made me even more curious about him.

He stood up and put his plate in the sink.

"What are you doing?" I frowned when I saw him roll up his sleeves.

"Doing the dishes."

"I'll take care of it," I quickly said, reaching for the plate. Oliver stopped me, his hand catching my wrist. His grip felt so big around my wrist, but he was gentle. I slowly looked up, and my gaze met his. Someone could write a poem about how beautiful his eyes were.

"Relax, Daniel, I'm not going to make you do everything." His voice was low and soft. "You're my assistant, not my slave." A pause. "Though, I wouldn't mind if you called me king Carlson."

I couldn't help but smile.

"You mean king Carl?" I joked, reminding him of his poorly printed name on the back of one of his T-shirts.

He laughed, and I was surprised by how much I loved his voice. His laughter slowly went away, and his eyes lowered to my lips. His warm hand was still around mine, and I felt my stomach flutter.

Why did I always get butterflies whenever he touched me? Why was he still holding me? Why were we standing so close to each other? His strong shoulder only touched mine slightly, but my entire body started to heat up.

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It's starting to get hot in here 🥵

What's a big red flag for you?

Also, if you'd like to be a few chapters ahead, you can join my Patreon! There's also some exclusive chapters. The chapters on wattpad aren't the same as the ones on Patreon, so if you see chapter 15 as the latest update, it's probably chapter 20 something for Wattpad! So yes, we're not only 2 chapters ahead~